**EDITOR’S NOTE: THE INFORMATION BELOW MIGHT NOT BE UP-TO-DATE.
This is kinda cool… Intuit has released a “Military Edition” of TurboTax that’s free (through Feb 14, 2013) for junior enlisted personnel (E-1 to E-5) and discounted for those at higher ranks (E-6 to E-10 and officers).
Junior enlisted personnel will get a free federal and state return. For those at higher ranks, it will cost $24.95 with state returns costing extra. The software apparently walks you through military-specific tax provisions to help maximize your deductions.
If you qualify, click here to check it out.
This would be great, if it wasn’t for the fact that TurboTax has given free filling to all military members in the past. So essentially this is a price raise for those who aren’t lower ranked (state was always full price). Sounds like H&R Block might be handling my business this year.
I’ve been in the Navy for 2 years and I’ve had the most tax preparation success with H&R Block. Military One Source, a DOD resource and support program, provides “free access to the H&R Block At Home® Basic online tax filing service,” which provides free federal and up to three state filings for all military personnel, regardless of rank. Also, my experience has been that H&R Block has no glitches in its software that can be caused by the unusual block entries that are common among military personnel, which is more than I can say for TurboTax.
More resources for service members:
“Filing Your Taxes Without the Headache”
http://www.militaryonesource.mil/pfm/tax-planning-and-preparation?content_id=269644
“Filing Taxes When a Service Member Is Deployed”
http://www.militaryonesource.mil/phases-deployment?content_id=267407
“The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program”
http://www.militaryonesource.mil/pfm/tax-planning-and-preparation?content_id=267428